Pat Sheeran calls it a career after 11 years as Common Pleas judge

Objections during a jury trial sometimes cause the lawyers and judge to huddle for hushedconversations that jurors aren't allowed to hear.

Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Pat Sheeran always was quick to tell jurors that theseprivate chats " known as sidebars " were necessary to keep them from hearing information that wasn'tadmissible.

'Are we trying to hide something from you?' he would say to the jury. 'Yes, we are.'

Sheeran was one of the court's most thorough judges when it came to explaining things to jurors,lawyers and defendants during more than 11 years on the Common Pleas bench, which came to an end ofsorts with his retirement last week. He'll still be around for at least two months each year asneeded as a visiting judge.

Throughout his tenure, no one took more time than Sheeran in explaining to criminal defendantswhat rights they were giving up when they chose to plead guilty.

'My pleas take as long as anybody's,' Sheeran conceded, adding that making sure defendants fullyunderstand their constitutionally guaranteed trial rights is essential.

'He's such a professional,' said Diane Menashe, a defense attorney for the past 19 years inColumbus. 'He wants (defendants) to get a good trial. He expects professionalism and good lawyeringfrom both sides.

'He treats everybody fairly. He is thoughtful in his rulings and he is objective.'

Sheeran, 66, spent parts of 22 years as an assistant Franklin County prosecutor before he wasappointed to a vacancy on the bench in 2005 by then Gov. Bob Taft. He was elected the followingyear to complete the term and was re-elected without opposition in 2010.

He chose not to seek another term in November for what he calls 'the job of a lifetime.' JeffreyM. Brown was elected to fill the opening.

Sheeran's work in the prosecutor's office included criminal and appeals court experience, aswell as supervising the civil division. He also served from 1994 to 2000 as a magistrate in thecourt, which he called 'the practice tee for becoming a judge.'

He handled death-penalty cases as a prosecutor and as a judge. One of his most memorable trialswas that of Lindsey Bruce, who was convicted of aggravated murder and kidnapping in the 2004 deathof 5-year-old Emily Rimel.

Sheeran sentenced him to life without parole in 2007 after the jury recommended against thedeath penalty.

Prosecutor Ron O'Brien, for whom Sheeran worked before taking the bench, called him a"thoughtful, deliberative and very thorough judge.'

That approach was evident, O'Brien said, when Sheeran sentenced two Columbus City Schoolsofficials involved in a data-rigging scandal in 2014 and 2015. Both received probation, with onealso going to jail for 15 days.

'He struggled and studied and wanted all the facts, trying to determine what happened and why,'O'Brien recalled. 'He agonized over those kinds of decisions like no other judge.'

Sheeran said sentencing was the most difficult part of the job.

'In at least a handful of cases, I've taken a recess and gone back and really thought about it,'he said. 'But once I'm done, I move on.'

He had served as the court's administrative judge since 2013 and is particularly proud of thefive years he spent as judge for the court's drug program, which steers some low-level, nonviolentoffenders into substance-abuse treatment as part of probation.

'It was one of my most gratifying experiences as a judge,' Sheeran said. 'A number of peopledidn't make it through, but for those who did, their lives really changed for the better.'

He expects to spend some of his extra time traveling with Ellen, his wife of 43 years, after sheretires this year from the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation. They have three adultchildren.

Sheeran, who is known to friends and colleagues as 'Duffy,' also hopes to audit classes at OhioState University, take a sculpture class, increase the frequency of his piano lessons and continuejogging.

He started running in 1978 to get in shape and competed in seven marathons, including the BostonMarathon, before a back injury in the early '90s reduced his runs to no more than 5 miles.

'I get a lot out of it,' he said. 'When I run with a group, we talk about things. When I run bymyself, I get to think about things. It's a good opportunity to reflect.'

jfutty@dispatch.com

@johnfutty

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